ROB RIGGLE TO HOST "CMT'S ULTIMATE KICKOFF PARTY," PREMIERING FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 AT 9 P.M. ET ONLY ON CMT

More than 100 iHeartMedia Country Stations Across the Country to Broadcast the Live 90-Minute CMT Special Singer-Songwriter Aloe Blacc will Perform and Jessie James Decker to be Social Correspondent for CMT

NASHVILLE - January 5, 2015 - With just one week to go until the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, CMT is gearing up for its first ever CMT ULTIMATE KICKOFF PARTY LIVE FROM THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, a live television special premiering on Friday, January 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET. The 90-minute special will not only air live on CMT, but it will also broadcast on 119 iHeartMedia country stations across the country, which are also available on iHeartRadio. Actor/comedian Rob Riggle ("Dumb & Dumber To," "22 Jump Street," "Fox NFL Sunday") will host the concert which has a star studded lineup including Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Big & Rich, Brett Eldredge, Jake Owen, Maddie & Tae and Thomas Rhett. Singer-Songwriter Aloe Blacc will join Lady Antebellum for an unforgettable performance and Jessie James Decker ("Redneck Island") will be CMT's social correspondent for the event.

The concert celebrates the biggest weekend of the year for college football and will be broadcast from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. The television special marks a first-time partnership with CMT and College Football Playoff and is the kickoff entertainment event at the national championship playoff weekend.

Actor/Comedian/Writer/Producer/Director Rob Riggle has been a staple in comedic films for over 15 years. Most recently, Riggle co-starred with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in Universal Pictures' Dumb & Dumber To, the sequel to the 1994 comedy classic, Dumb & Dumber. He also starred in Twentieth Century Fox's buddy comedy, Let's Be Cops, with Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson, as well as Sony Picture's hit comedies 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, opposite Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. While establishing his place on the big screen, Riggle has also remained a mainstay in television. He is currently a host on Fox NFL Sunday, the number one NFL pre-game show, and was also seen on Adult Swim's NTSF:SD:SUV::as "President of the Navy." Riggle hosted the 2012 ESPY Awards and his other television credits include "30 Rock," "The Office," "Arrested Development," "Modern Family" and "New Girl." Riggle is known for his memorable characters in comedy hits like The Hangover, and he is also known for his four year stint as a correspondent on the multiple Emmy Award-winning show, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

The inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship is on January 12, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Join the conversation on CMT's Facebook page, or follow @CMT on Twitter using official hashtag #CMTkickoffparty

John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux are executive producers for CMT and Amy Lin Johnson is producer.

About iHeartMedia

With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., 97 million monthly digital uniques and 196 million monthly consumers of its Total Traffic and Weather Network, iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. It serves over 150 markets through 859 owned radio stations, and the company's radio stations and content can be heard on AM/FM, HD digital radio, satellite radio, on the Internet at iHeartRadio.com and on the company's radio station websites, on the iHeartRadio mobile app, in enhanced auto dashes, on tablets and smartphones, and on gaming consoles. iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital radio platform, is the No. 1 all-in-one digital audio service with over 430 million downloads; it reached its first 20 million registered users faster than any digital service in Internet history and reached 50 million users faster than any digital music service and even faster than Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. The company's operations include radio broadcasting, online, mobile, digital and social media, live concerts and events, syndication, music research services and independent media representation.

About the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff will begin with the 2014-15 season. The semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4, and No. 2 will face No. 3 in semifinal games that will rotate annually among the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual and VIZIO Fiesta Bowl. The first semifinals will be January 1, 2015, at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual and Allstate Sugar Bowl. The first national championship game will be January 12, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

About CMT

CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT, CMT.com and CMT Radio offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and are the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT App, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.